ALMS Media Schedule 2011

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Perhaps there needs to be only one series to be commercially viable, I think most of us would applaud that.

Historically there has rarely been just one series in the US, though.

In the late 60s, early 70s it was Trans-Am and Can-Am, when Can-Am died you had IMSA and T/A, then a Can-Am revival next to the other two and Trans-Am and IMSA coexisted well into the nineties... and I guess Kelly American played the role of World Challenge, stealing away some entries from Trans-Am (now Grand Am)...

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

The ALMS has much less than a million viewers per race in North America, last I saw it was below 600,000.

The ALMS cannot play hard with the ACO, Don sits on the ACO side.

Here are some 2009 NETWORK ratings. 0.5 (St. Pete), 0.8 (Long Beach), and 0.4 (Mid-Ohio)

I'll see if I can come up with any actual numbers for 2010, but they won't be good. ALMS certainly does not get 4 million listeners for Hindy.

The same group basically watched the Streaming live of was it Mid Ohio? That was somewhat less than 10,000 people.

Actually the streaming was never mentioned anywhere but his show and the web site. Not even on Autoweek which covers the series or Autosport who also cover the series.

The numbers I mentioned I believe are over a season, not per event shown.

The 2009 numbers you mention are about the same for NASCAR Nationwide as well. Its about a 1.0 with home girl.

So you're saying its about half-million per event shown on Speed or ABC or NBC/CBS?

Interesting.

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by Acid09

So you´re saying the ALMS is more popular than the NASCAR Nationwide Series? You got to be kidding...only in Atherton's dreams.

Major publications in Europe that cover the ALMS? I don't know about other countries but the ALMS is basically a non-topic in Germany...which is pretty car crazy in general.

There's no way the series is the most popular after F1 as DTM, WTCC & WRC rank ahead of the ALMS in Europe for sure.

Do you know anything about American TV? If not then -

ESPN2's live telecast of Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.4, averaging 1,920,301 viewers.

As I said it compares favorable to NASCAR's number 2 series which often features NASCAR Sprint Cup regulars as well and Danica, which wasn't the ratings boost they thought it would be over the course of a season.

More popular, world-wide - YES lots of NASCAR haters outside of North America. I would say besides the UK, Germany is the next most friendly to American culture and trends. Only pure racing fans even know about the Nationwide series beyond our shores, most don't care for it I would say.

Doing .5 on a channel that not everybody gets here (Speed) is pretty good.

It has done .8 on Live/Same Day Tape Delay TV as well.

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Only a fraction of GT5 buyers will be interested in the endurance races and racing cars in general, most people are keen about the street cars and equipping them with tuning-parts.

I guess your not on GT Planet the biggest GT site on the web and yes many of them and many Forza fans are also ALMS/Road Racing fans. Many also do Club Racing themselves.

GT5 is an enthusiasts game it is NOT Burnout Paradise. I would say the Need For Speed SHIFT crowd is deeply interested in sportscar racing.

I don't know how old you are, but I wouldn't underestimate its impact either.

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Perhaps there needs to be only one series to be commercially viable, I think most of us would applaud that. With the philosophical differences I don't see that any time soon though unless one dies. More manufacturers would invest more if there was only one series competing for eyeballs. They buy the ad time on TV also, making the series more attractive to the networks. Indycar looks as though it may slowly be benefiting from re-unification. They, like the ALMS, need a better TV deal too.

The fans have already spoken on the Grand Am vs ALMS rift, the collapse of Grand Am would not grow the ALMS by much if at all. You forget how proud some Americans are when they believe they are right and somebody else is wrong, look at the CART-IRL split, which is largely about ideology just like the ALMS/USRRC split.

Indy Car is benefiting from unification? The loudest complainers about 2012 are mostly CART fans. The only thing original IRL fans miss about the current series is which failed on all accounts but won't admit it, (lack of) American drivers and now too many road course events.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by dj4monie

So you're saying its about half-million per event shown on Speed or ABC or NBC/CBS?

Interesting.

Half mil on network... much less on Speed. These are far less than Nationwide.

The numbers for Grand Am and ALMS on Speed this year weren't meaningfully different. In the early years, the ALMS had some decent TV numbers, approaching what Nationwide has now.... but they've slowly deteriorated.

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by TWK

dj, ALMS' PEAK ALL-TIME television rating did not reach 2.5 million homes. However, at one time ratings around 1.0 (plus or minus .2) could be expected on "broadcast" channels, and .4 to .6 on cable only (speed). Unfortunately, from those peaks in mid-decade, they have steadily declined. The retrenchment that occurred in television over the past couple of seasons and that is rumored to continue this season has nothing to do with "embracing new media." It has to do with declining ratings, and thus declining direct ad sales revenue, and declining value to team sponsors.

You want to talk about Hindy's listeners? Very little there that a teams can sell to a prospective sponsor, in my opinion.

I believe this is a serious problem that cannot be minimized. The sport can't live just on a few rich wannabe racers. It needs to be commercially viable to its teams and tracks, and thus to "third party" sponsors.

Is Grand Am "there" yet? No, so this is not a comparason of the two series. Ultimately they both need to be commercially viable. The question now is one of trends. Which is positioned to improve its exposure, and which is not?

I don't know if either series is in a position to improve its exposure. Grand Am benefits from maybe being the only Sports Car series on Speed next season. Will ALMS fans watch? I do, sometimes. Other times I just can't take the inferior feel of it and just change the channel. I'm vastly more interested in Grand Am Cup which gets almost NO Exposure.

We both agree the ALMS has more to loose than Grand Am which is already at the bottom and can only improve from there. I still think moving to GT3 cars in GTC and maybe even going to an all GT car format might be step in the right direction, get back to basics as it were.

Historically the GT classes have been the most closely fought, if you value close racing, which every series claims it does, why not go that direction?

Audi's continuous run away victories (and Championships) and its return to dominance in 2008 I think spelled doom for the series, especially when Acura committed to LMP1 but Audi did not. The fact that Audi continues to have interest in the series should be shocking to fans, but I think their blindness for another warm body (manufacturer) in the series was more important to them than the quality of the races.

Prototype fans wouldn't like to see their cars disappear, but who said they would? When the economy could support them, they'll likely return. But presently you have 5 manufactures in GT/GT2. If you expand GTC to allow GT3 cars, 2 of the current GT/GT2 manufacturers build GT3 cars (BMW and Porsche). Benz who currently does not have a racing presence in America I'm sure would love to sell some of those SLS GT3 cars. Audi was looking not only at Prototypes but also GT3 cars as well. It would have been so much easier to tell the 6 teams that run LMP1 and say look buy a GT2 or GT3, stay in the series and once the economy improves we'll go back to LMP cars if you want.

But the reality is, Highcroft is the only LMP1/2 team that has the budget to run at Le Mans seriously, the other(s) just go to have a good time.

But I think it would be much easier to promote this series with just the GT cars. You have 8 cars with a chance to win (maybe 3 in Grand Am DP's). If Greg Pickett decides to move down to GT2 for a couple of seasons, why wouldn't they get support from Porsche and pair Klaus Graf with a front line Porsche Driver? Of course they would...

If The Robinson's find the budget to run the one pro car with the not-so pro car, that would mean GT would be 10 cars deep out of about 14 cars. That's not to say if Jag can find some longevity because driving talent I don't think is there problem, it could be even deeper.

That's better than the cameras focusing too much time on the overall leaders just because they are LMP1 cars or even LMPC cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN3jPJ2usPc - Last Lap GT2 Road America 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7tnb0yDnPM GT2 last lap battle @ Mosport 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMR9VnrNAwQ Le Mans 2010 Risi vs GM Racing Corvette

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by JAG

The niche sport argument has applied to motorsport for the past thirty years, in the UK F1 recieves a couple of pages coverage following a race as opposed to twenty plus for soccer after the weekends matches.

The difference being that there is only one F1 race, while there are 46 football matches.

Originally Posted by dj4monie

Well I don't know what the correct options are -

You don't renew your contract with Wheeler TV, why? Sure some of us complain but that's fairly small I imagine. Intersport hasn't received glowing reviews either of its broadcast of races in Docu-drama format.

Did Wheeler actually bid to retain the production contract? Or did they believe that with the reduced budget on offer they couldn't do the job for the money?

Where to put races on?

Currently shown on Speed which is a partnership between Speed and the ALMS/IMSA.

It's a partnership in the same way that you form a partnership with Walmart when you do your shopping there.

Where can you put your races on where a majority of the fan base and new fans can see them? I don't have a problem with Versus and yes I do get it. For others, is streaming the answer?

Streaming costs money per viewer. Unless you have a sponsor willing to cover the costs, it's not going to hapen.

Originally Posted by Chiana

A large TV package outside States? What, you mean the Motors coverage with two live races and bunch of "delayed by a week" broadcasts?

Does the ALMS have live TV coverage anywhere else in the world? No


The problem is that the audiences for the ALMS are small, and not growing.
Sponsors aren't getting value out of paying for TV coverage, so they aren't going to pay as much.

That means the ALMS has to make cuts elsewhere: reduce the production budget or spend less on airtime (either by shortening races, or going to channels with lower reach).

[dj4monie]

But that means you have to look at why the series fan base isn't growing which is contrary to ALMS' own "propaganda", which says its younger demo has actually grown.

I say, the lopsided victories by Audi were getting old. Once Panoz stepped away from LMP1 that largely left Audi to dominate without any resistance at all.

It was still an effective promotional tool for Audi especially with the diesel cars. The moment of truth came when both Porsche and Acura jumped into LMP2. This was fine IMHO, but they allowed Audi to publicly complain about the lack of competition and then complain when Acura and Porsche read the rulebook and went the LMP2 route.

Excellent racing from 2006-2008 at the front kept people fans interested. I believe the drop in fans started to happen around 2008, because it was back to business as usual for Audi who had won the LMP1 title by the Detroit race.

I'm surprised rating didn't fall of a cliff in 2009 because I would say racing was much better in 2010 up front.

I think an all GT series is the best solution here. It still sets it apart from Grand Am, has the support of 5 manufactures, 4 of them directly involved and its an excellent building block to start on.

As it stand right now, we have only commitments from Audi and Peugeot for ILMC and nothing else, not even the LMS even if it still exist, though officials say it does.

Highcroft is said to be in the final stages of talks to fund a complete program and Indy Car I would take it, he'll likely get that done. I don't see how any else in the LMP paddock (besides Dyson) can justify a company sponsor them. If there ever was a business where the statement was true its auto racing; "You have to spend money to make money".

The only strong classes you have are LMPC, GT and GTC.

Seems to me you could run a pretty nice series with just that. As much as I like Highcroft and as much as I would like them to return for years to come, we can't go through another season of one team dominating a class by default. That is likely to happen considering the weaken competition last year and while some races were close, most of them were not and if Highcroft had made the call to leave the high downforce setup on the cars, it would have been mainly a battle between them and Muscle Milk the entire season, cause not for the DNS at Mid-Ohio they had more than a realistic chance to battle for the title and Porsche was ALL IN.

Marshall Pruett said on MWM last week, you think the ALMS would be taking some positive momentum into 2011; especially with a lame duck Indy Car 2011 season. But all we keep hearing is good news for Grand Am and Indy Car and no news about ALMS out than we have no confirmation on the 2011 ACO rules package for LMP1/LMP2 cars, we lost a race and back to 9 event with only one new venue added. An Audi deal that fell through for reason that are not perfectly clear.

It might not to be time to abandon ship but its taking on water and rowing faster isn't helping.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by dj4monie

I think an all GT series is the best solution here.

I don't think so. Sports prototypes are a great way to attract fans. It's not the same to have eight spaceships leading a nice bunch of GTs than just having the "usual" 911s, Ferraris and GTs.

IMSA should drop all but one LMP class, so they focus more on LMGT. I'm not sure LMPC would be the best chocie, because the different chassis and engine manufacturers from LMP2 make things more interesting. Another choice could be having both LMP2 and LMPC, but make LMPCs slower than LMGTs.

[JAG]

Imagine this, the ALMS announces an all GT series for 2012 and the first major news is BMW pulling out of the series. Your left hoping Corvette, Porsche and Ferrari can field a dozen competitve cars and the rest of the grid is filled with................GTC Corvettes, Porsches and Ferraris.

All of this to be played out in a world where manufactuers and constructors are getting into their stride producing P1/P2 chassis and engines, the latter of which is targeted at the very privateers the ALMS needs to attract.

Next season is important but manufactuers and teams need stability.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

All of this to be played out in a world where manufactuers and constructors are getting into their stride producing P1/P2 chassis and engines, the latter of which is targeted at the very privateers the ALMS needs to attract.

??

Which manufacturers are producing chassis?

North America and Europe are not the same. The ALMS would like P2 entries, but it is NOT what it NEEDS. A Privateer based series isn't really something that will sell in North America. It's basically the same as the manufacturers provide engines for Grand Am, maybe the cars are a bit quicker... The difference being, some Grand Am teams actually have all pro lineups.

[JAG]

By 2012 the only guaranteed GTE entries are a factory team from Corvette and a couple of the favoured semi-factory teams from Porsche and Ferrari. Your then faced with the problem of finding another 20+ privateer GTE/GTC entries without becoming a glorified Porsche/Ferrari cup series.

It was only 2008 when three manufacturers were battling for the ALMS title in prototypes, it's well worth waiting another 12 months to see if manufacturers like Audi, Aston and Acura renew their interest in the series and to see how the P2/LMPC field develops.

[Fogelhund]

Nothing is guaranteed for 2012... from any entry or manufacturer.

There are times to be patient, and sometimes you are so patient you end up still being at the party when they turn the lights out.

You've got a competitor(s) making changes and finding ways to win the war in North America... so you sit still and hope somehow that things change without having done a thing?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results - Albert Einstein.

* What will attract LMP manufacturers? The stunning TV ratings? Declining fan attendance at races?

[dj4monie]

Why would BMW drop out of one of their most popular racing programs? Its more popular than the F1 program though nobody would publicly admit, the BMW F1 team was failure on all fronts as it has no real connection to the cars people drove.

Anyway, LMPC is a decent starting block and has an affordable price tag. Indy Car and IRL fans tolerated same engine, same car series for over 5 years. I doubt we would have to ride it out that long and there's already 5-6 teams ready to go and largely competitive with each other. You can add engine/chassis diversity once the economy can support it and companies want to do it.

Right now there is at least (2) LMP-2 chassis and up to four different engines available. Its possible you could talk the remaining LMP teams to switch to LMP2 cars.

Either way, its better than domination by Highcroft which would happen without a full factory supported effort. Intersport and Autocon have shown no inclination to spend money, at least not what's needed to compete.

We have no confirmation from Drayson and with Muscle Milk considering a drop down to GT2 in the mid-term, as I said it makes sense to go this general direction.

I like Prototypes but its not highly supported by those private teams fans seem to covet so much. The cost to return on investment is not high enough for one thing and almost next to no chance to win overall without a catastrophe happening, which happen in 2008 at Detroit with both Audi's finishing several laps behind allowing Intersport to win LMP1 which largely went unnoticed cause Andretti-Green won their first race overall... Intersport was also SEVERAL laps down and finished behind all the LMP2 cars.

Is this the kind of Prototype class Prototype purist likes so much? You can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink it. As Muscle Milk (as told through The Bear) said the Prototype options are not "great". Despite the love for Lola around here, its still not what's needed to take on the factories. If Rebellion can show TRUE pace (qualifying ahead of the diesel cars on a track where diesels have a known power advantage) then I might be a believer but an occasional win over Audi doesn't mean much when they haven't had since the appearance of the 908's had the fastest car anyway.

Starting to rebuild the series with the GT cars is the best possible answer. They've already squandered a chance to merge the two LMP classes starting in the 2008 season. They don't not need to miss another golden opportunity to remake the series and put its best foot forward.

Jaguar, GM and BMW spent quite a bit on adverts last year. LMPC would still be faster than GT, but any mistakes puts the leading LMPC's behind a GT car, I don't think they can make up the time lost and I doubt that would hurt the series at all if a GT car wins overall, if you never pretended your top class was dominate like Grand Am did with the DP's and had to slow the GT cars down to do create the illusion.

[JAG]

What will attract LMP manufacturers? The stunning TV ratings? Declining fan attendance at races?

What will attract GT manufactuers, who will actually invest in the series as opposed to simply sell customer cars? Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche will compete whatever the class structure so the question is what's to be gained by going GT only.

The only certainty is no return for Audi or Acura, Aston Martins talks with potential ALMS entrantrs will end and any manufactuer without a supercar in their road car line-up is excluded. P2 is an option for teams who cannot afford P1 or GTE, a stepping stone from LMPC/GTC and will use production based engines from major manufactuers who will want to promote that fact.

What happened in 2010 isn't neccessarily relevant to the future, new regs come into force next season, Sebring and PLM will be better than ever and at least 12 months are needed to see how the series develops.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by JAG

By 2012 the only guaranteed GTE entries are a factory team from Corvette and a couple of the favoured semi-factory teams from Porsche and Ferrari. Your then faced with the problem of finding another 20+ privateer GTE/GTC entries without becoming a glorified Porsche/Ferrari cup series.

Glorified Porsche/Ferrari cup series? You've just defined what GT2 has been for the last decade. And everybody thought that was great.

I'm not sure the casual fan cares that there are only two manufacturers - if there are plenty of cars, and the racing is close.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Glorified Porsche/Ferrari cup series? You've just defined what GT2 has been for the last decade. And everybody thought that was great.

I'm not sure the casual fan cares that there are only two manufacturers - if there are plenty of cars, and the racing is close.

It's great when TV can cut back every quarter of an hour to show a door banging GT pass, meanwhile LMP's dice between each other and make their way through the GT field.

The entertainment factor decreases dramatically when that speed difference is removed and much of the field consists of a couple of marques.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

What will attract GT manufactuers, who will actually invest in the series as opposed to simply sell customer cars? Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche will compete whatever the class structure so the question is what's to be gained by going GT only.

It's been spelt out a number of times for you. This is a BUSINESS.

Fans want to see professional racing, with factory entries. Without that, you have ever further reductions in TV ratings, fan attendance at races, etc.. This results in lower revenues from ad sales, and sanction fees.

Manufacturers, running in the top class, getting the greatest exposure would be more open to sponsoring the series directly. What the rules for that class are, or format are not relevant to the manufacturer. (Well, truth be told most manufacturers would tell you that they would prefer to be in cars that represent what they sell, ie. GT cars) It is about exposure.

The Series NEEDS manufacturer OR sponsor dollars to survive in it's current format.

The only certainty is no return for Audi or Acura, Aston Martins talks with potential ALMS entrantrs will end and any manufactuer without a supercar in their road car line-up is excluded. P2 is an option for teams who cannot afford P1 or GTE, a stepping stone from LMPC/GTC and will use production based engines from major manufactuers who will want to promote that fact.

What happened in 2010 isn't neccessarily relevant to the future, new regs come into force next season, Sebring and PLM will be better than ever and at least 12 months are needed to see how the series develops.

P2 is NOT a manufacturers promotional tool. Manufacturers will NOT sponsor the series, or provide any real money for a P2 entry.

In the BUSINESS world, what a company did in the past is extremely relevant to their future. The most important factor in the success of any business is Management. The Management has not change, so BUSINESS people will evaluate the worth of the exposure the series based upon not only 2010, but all years prior. Nobody in the BUSINESS world cares that there are new rules, they are completely irrelevant to the future of the series, except where they provide instability and reduce entries.

Let's look at some facts.

TV exposure has fallen greatly since somewhere around 02'/03'... I don't know the exact year of the peak.

Top class entries have fallen nearly every year, since the inception of the series. Overall (non-spec) entries have fallen steadily, with a brief increase in 07' and 08'.

The only improvement has been in attendance at track, but those numbers are not significant enough to justify the expenses.

The series and it's management doesn't need a year to see how the new rules work. They've had 11 years of history.

Without manufacturer participation in the TOP class, the BUSINESS model for this series makes no sense. That might be different than Europe, but then the LMS has a completely different structure. Either that TOP class is P1 or GT. ILMC killed any likelihood that the manufacturers and their dollars will be in regional series in P1 in the future. That really only leaves one possibility to have a relevant series into the future.

It might be possible for IMSA and ALMS to restructure, let a bunch (MORE) people go, and move to be an amateur series. Under such a scenario the exposure, TV ratings and attendance at track will deteriorate, and it is probable that any manufacturer backing in GT would eventually disappear, in favour of other forms of marketing (including other series).

You either grow, stagnate, or shrink. BUSINESS people can see the series is shrinking in stature. The only current hope for manufacturer entries, is where they already are. That is GT. If you want the series to remain a professional series, a move to GT is necessary. If you accept that it will continue to diminish, with mostly amateur teams (some very good though), and no manufacturers in the top classes... that is fine. Understand that is a very different product than was the ALMS was. Understand that from a cost/value benefit basis, Grand Am will be more attractive soon, if it isn't already. (as much as that pains me to say)

There is a massive difference between simply being a fan of a sports genre, and being a fan who understands the business mechanics of how the sport operates.

Under a GT series scenario, PLM and Sebring could remain in ILMC.

----------------------

So, here is your opportunity to build a business case, as to why P2 is going to be the building blocks for manufacturers and private entries. How would the ALMS build a business around this, and justify the costs?

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

It's great when TV can cut back every quarter of an hour to show a door banging GT pass, meanwhile LMP's dice between each other and make their way through the GT field.

The entertainment factor decreases dramatically when that speed difference is removed and much of the field consists of a couple of marques.

There is no entertainment factor for TV, in a few non-manufacturer or privateer teams racing for the lead, and dominating TV time. Every quarter hour of TV time for manufacturers spending money in GT doesn't cut it. The Manufacturers are currently not satisfied with their TV time, and there really aren't many fans still watching on TV to watch the protos anyway.

[JAG]

It's been spelt out a number of times for you. This is a BUSINESS.

I'm aware this is a business I simply disagree how you go about attracting it.

Your premise is manufactuers will never enter prototypes in the ALMS again which I believe is misguided and seriously underestimates the importance of the market.

Audi where a boardroom decision away from entering a P1 team in the 2011 ALMS, funding is a huge hurdle to overcome but there is a desire on Audi AG's part. You know how it works, as Audi said, if they entered they were confident others would follow, that could be Aston Martin, increased backing for Highcroft from Acura, who knows.

Your throwing your lot in with GT racing of which only Corvette and BMW are full factory teams the latter of which will be off when their DTM program is upto speed. I can reel off another list of impressive GT cars but they are for customers, more brands, more variety but no extra funding for the series.

You paint a picture of a downward trend in the ALMS from TV ratings to entries since '02/'03. That was a period when the series was packed with manufactuers and was held it up as an example of how professional sportscar series should be run, often followed by a dig at the 'second rate' LMS. It makes you wonder if the palava over the ACO, LM Test Day, ILMC, PLM, TV contract, Grand-Am 'Making it's Move' etc. are little more than excuses for the series long term problems.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by JAG

I'm aware this is a business I simply disagree how you go about attracting it.

Your premise is manufactuers will never enter prototypes in the ALMS again which I believe is misguided and seriously underestimates the importance of the market.

Audi where a boardroom decision away from entering a P1 team in the 2011 ALMS,

I believe that is quite wrong; AG made the decision to build a prototype and ultimately committed to racing it in the ILMC. Audi AG never intended to race in the ALMS on its own nickel, that would be (has been, actually) entirely up to Audi NA. Dr. Ulrich knew that when he said he thought there would be an ALMS entry, but read that carefully, you see it was a hopeful statement, and a comparative one (that it's easier to get the funding for an ALMS entry than an LMS, because you have to get funding from just one entity). What he knew and hoped would be reversed, was that NA had already decided to abandon ALMS racing after the 2008 season and he would need them to change their minds. But they had made a BUSINESS decision to spend their marketing budget in other areas (including Super Bowl ads, and other advertising).

funding is a huge hurdle to overcome but there is a desire on Audi AG's part. You know how it works, as Audi said, if they entered they were confident others would follow, that could be Aston Martin, increased backing for Highcroft from Acura, who knows.

In fact, I think you make the Hund's point: Manufacturers will opt out of regional series in favor of a global marketing platform. Regional participation will have to be funded by the regional or national subsidiary...as in fact it always has been in the case of Audi.

Your throwing your lot in with GT racing of which only Corvette and BMW are full factory teams the latter of which will be off when their DTM program is upto speed. I can reel off another list of impressive GT cars but they are for customers, more brands, more variety but no extra funding for the series.

You paint a picture of a downward trend in the ALMS from TV ratings to entries since '02/'03. That was a period when the series was packed with manufactuers and was held it up as an example of how professional sportscar series should be run, often followed by a dig at the 'second rate' LMS. It makes you wonder if the palava over the ACO, LM Test Day, ILMC, PLM, TV contract, Grand-Am 'Making it's Move' etc. are little more than excuses for the series long term problems.

I don't see that you have bothered to make a business case for LMP 1 or 2 for any regional series that has a dependence on manufacturer participation.

[JAG]

I don't see that you have bothered to make a business case for LMP 1 or 2 for any regional series that has a dependence on manufacturer participation.

The business case for P1 is no different to GTE. The big difference being P1 is open to any manufactuer or specialist constructor as opposed to limiting yourself to high end sports and supercar manufactuers.

The P2 case has already been made by the success of LMPC, additional benefits are cars that are eligable for Le Mans and multiple chassis/engine combinations being of greater interest to fans.

There have been so many predictions of doom and negative rumours these past few months you begin to lose count. My belief is the ACO are bang on the money with their P1, P2 and GTE regs, plans for the ILMC and the way the ALMS will intergrate into this.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by JAG

The business case for P1 is no different to GTE. The big difference being P1 is open to any manufactuer or specialist constructor as opposed to limiting yourself to high end sports and supercar manufactuers.

The P2 case has already been made by the success of LMPC, additional benefits are cars that are eligable for Le Mans and multiple chassis/engine combinations being of greater interest to fans.

There have been so many predictions of doom and negative rumours these past few months you begin to lose count. My belief is the ACO are bang on the money with their P1, P2 and GTE regs, plans for the ILMC and the way the ALMS will intergrate into this.

Gee, I thought a "business case" included some description of where revenue would come from, and why it is a good idea for a "revenue source" to invest. For instance, a business case would describe the value of exposure for a sponsor in the class and series.

I guess not. My bad.

[LagunaSnaka]

Since we're talking about business...Two major goals of any business should be 1) Keep the customers you have. 2) Attract new customers.

The 2011 ALMS TV package doesn't meet either of those goals. While streaming has come on in leaps and bounds, it’s still a long way from the laptop to the TV. (Service providers don't want to make it too easy...otherwise they wouldn't be able to bill you for 2 connections.)

The package will alienate a chunk existing fans and make it really hard for new fans to come on board.

For example, my brother and I have watched Sebring together since the early 1990s. This year probably not if it’s streaming only…I can see the conversation now…

“Wanna come over and watch Sebring?” … “ummm yeah…but it’s not on TV” …“no way! I thought it was on SPEED like always?” “well… its sort of on… on a live stream” “but I don’t want to sit in front of my laptop with you all day” “well…we could get some extra box thing and hook it up to the TV” “how does that work?” “I dunno…seems like a pain in the ass” “What about the other races?” “well… it looks like some are on Versus and some are on ABC” “Crap…I don’t get Versus” “Yeah…you have to pay extra to get it”…

Additionally, when the races were on SPEED, the ALMS could attract new fans as a result of channel surfing or leaving TV on after NASCAR. In a streaming environment, you won’t accidentally go to a website you don’t normally visit and watch racing you are unfamiliar with. Streaming is a great supplementary way for existing fans to watch the races, but not a way to attract new fans.